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Aline began her screenwriting career in 1999 with her first produced feature, the romantic comedy Three to Tango, starring Neve Campbell. That film established Aline as a go-to writer of realistic drama and romance. She followed that film up with 2004’s Laws of Attraction, starring Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan. But her best known work came with the film adaptation of the popular novel, The Devil Wears Prada, a modern classic, and features one of Meryl Streep’s signature roles as the imperious magazine editor, Miranda Priestly. In 2014, Aline added television to her resume when she co-created the critically acclaimed, Emmy award-winning comedy series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, on which she served as head writer, showrunner, and executive producer. The series just finished airing its fourth and final season on the CW.
The movie that Aline has chosen to discuss is the wonderful Steven Spielberg film, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She discusses how the film has become one of her favorites over the years, and one that she admires as a feat of technical storytelling. She dives into the process of working with actors to help change movie scripts on set, like working with Emily Blunt on The Devil Wears Prada to fully develop her character. She elaborates on showrunning Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the insane schedule of producing a musical one hour sitcom. Aline also bemoans the lack of character-driven films that were so prevalent in the '70's, and how she frequently falls asleep during the final fights of Marvel films. Show notes

To quote the Tribeca Film Festival, director Nia DaCosta is “a name you’re gonna need to get familiar with.” Nia DaCosta was born and raised in New York City and attended NYU’s Tisch. She started her film career paying her dues in production, on the documentary series, Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life, while also writing and directing shorts. In 2015, she took an early draft of her script for a film called Little Woods to the Sundance Directors Lab. There, she hooked up with Tessa Thompson, who read the part of a woman named Ollie, who’s caught in a poverty trap in rural North Dakota and must decide whether she’ll re-enter a life of crime to help her pregnant sister. Tessa Thompson continued with the project, and Nia then cast Lily James to play her sister. The film premiered in 2018 at the Tribeca Film Festival. Shortly after that, it was announced that Nia would be directing the “spiritual sequel” to Candyman off a script penned by Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld, which will be released by MGM.

The movie Nia has chosen to discuss is 1979's Alien. To quote Nia, "it's a perfect film." She and April discuss the revolutionary character of Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, and how the world had never seen someone like her before. Nia talks about working and collaborating with Tessa Thompson on her character in Little Woods. She elaborates on directing the upcoming Candyman and what she learned from Jordan Peele. Plus, Nia tells April how Tessa Thompson is excellent at acting with her hands, or as Nia calls it - "hacting."